A variety of stand-alone, ceiling mounted, and wall mounted drying apparatuses have been developed to air dry a bather. In part, these apparatuses aid in the reduction of water use. The United States Geological Survey estimates that each person uses about 80-100 gallons of water per day. The second largest component of a person's daily water use is bathing, accounting for 20-40 gallons of water per use. Water usage is particularly important in light of global warming concerns and in the sport vehicle setting, e.g., RVs, boats, and campers. For various reasons, existing drying apparatuses are not capable of both heating the shower and air drying the entire body of a wet bather safely, quickly, conveniently, and efficiently.
A drier is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,128,161 for use in drying the entirety of a person's body after a shower or bath. The drier has an enclosure that is separate and distinct from the shower or bath with nozzles mounted on the interior. This requires bathers to exit the shower, which forces the bather to cover with a towel or bear the relatively cool air of the bathroom. Multiple nozzles are required because of the limited range and mobility of the nozzle fixtures.
A steam sauna is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,833,739 that reduces the danger of scalding. The steam sauna utilizes fixed passageways to deliver steam to the sauna. The steam sauna mitigates the danger of scalding by delivering a constant flow of fresh air through the passageway as well. The fresh air temperature may be varied for comfort. In an alternative use, the steam sauna may provide only hot air through the passageways and thereby create a hot air sauna experience for the bather.
A vertical stand-alone dryer extension assembly is described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,814,677, which allows a wet bather to dry themselves by standing in front of the dryer extension assembly and rotating or maneuvering the bather's body as necessary.
A combination shower and body dryer that is mounted in the ceiling of a shower compartment is described in U.S. Patent Application No. 2007/0039199. The combination body and shower dryer delivers hot air through a fixed, immovable ceiling passageway.
A thermoelectric heating and cooling device is described in U.S. Patent Application No. 2008/0098750. The thermoelectric heating and cooling device may be used on water craft, RV's, other land, sea or air vehicles, or in the outdoors or in work areas where batteries or generators are commonly available. The heating and cooling device includes one or more hoses to deliver and return local source water, i.e., a lake or ocean.
A therapeutic shower used for weight reduction is described in U.S. Patent Application No. 2013/0226109. The therapeutic shower includes a hot air blower that directs hot air down from the ceiling of a shower enclosure through fixed and molded distribution channels.
Thus, there exists a need for a versatile drying system and method that allow a wet bather to pre-heat the shower, and direct a heated flow of air to all portions of a bather's body, such that a bather may safely, quickly, conveniently, and efficiently dry their entire body without leaving the warm comfort of the shower or using another drying apparatus, e.g., a towel.